his face.
She squeezed his hand. 'Anybody ever tell you you're a handsome fellow?'
The look Linda gave her, hidden in the gloom of the timber, was of hate.
'Oh. dozens of girls. Hundreds. And one guy.'
'Are you serious?'
'About the guy?'
'Yes,' she laughed.
'Sure am. Never ran so fast in all my life. Fellow tried to kiss me … right on the mouth.'
Linda did not share their humor, sitting glumly on the ground behind them, her eyes full of hate.
Nydia laughed softly. 'I don't believe you, but tell me about the girls.'
'Oh … they all lusted after my body. Nearly drove me crazy. I finally had to get a big stick and carry it with me. One time I started a riot; all the girls started chasing me and fighting over who got to keep me. Why …'
'Sam,' she stopped him, 'that is the biggest lie I have ever heard.'
'Yeah,' he grinned, 'I guess it is, at that.' He put an arm around her shoulders just as Linda got to her feet and walked to the crest of the ridge where they stood.
'Oh, my God!' she said, pointing to the dark circle of stones. 'Look down there. Past the stones and stuff. Over by the house.'
A long wavering line of torches smoked the night, casting trembling evil flickers of light into the sky. The line marched toward the circle of stones.
The trio on the ridge above the sin-stained circle of stones watched for a few moments. The line came to the barren plain and slowly began to circle the stones.
'What time is it?' Linda asked.
Sam glanced at his watch. 'Eleven fifty-five.'
'You are too close,' the voice boomed into Sam's head. 'It is dangerous where you are. And it is not advisable for mortals to view this awfulness.'
'I have to see what I am to fight,' Sam replied, as Nydia and Linda looked at him in surprise. 'Stubborn. And young. Very well. Have it your way, young warrior.'
The mighty voice faded.
'Who were you talking to?' Linda asked.
'The Other Side,' Sam replied.
'The other side of what?'
'Life.' Sam thought for a few seconds, then added, 'As we know it.'
Linda pulled her attention back to the torches. She shook her head in disbelief. Neither Sam nor Nydia knew if the almost indiscernible movement of her head was meant for Sam or the scene before them.
On the fringe of the torch-lit circle, the trio on the top of the ridge watched as shadowy figures moved closer to the light, walking in a peculiar, hunkered manner. Even at this great distance they looked grotesque … not human.
'The Beasts,' Nydia said.
'I wonder where they came from?' Sam mused aloud.
'I mean … what was their origin?'
'Hell, I suppose,' she replied. 'I don't know, Sam. You know as much about them as I do.'
Linda was strangely silent.
God's failures! The phrase leaped into Sam's mind.
And the young man questioned that statement: but how can . . . could God fail at anything?
He wished for the mighty voice to return: to answer his questions, but the voice was silent. Then he remembered something his mother had told him, something his real father had told her: nobody knows how many times God tried to make man in His own image … and failed.
Sam pondered that for a few moments, thinking: were the Beasts God's failures? What happened to cause the failure?
'I can't answer that, either, Sam,' Nydia said. 'Only He can answer that.'
'I forgot you can read my thoughts. I wonder if we'll always have that power?'
'I … really hope not, Sam.'
'Yeah, me too.'
'You two can read each other's thoughts?' Linda asked, astonishment in her voice.
